How Should We Measure? A Review of Circular Cities Indicators

As the world continues to urbanize, it is necessary to identify and implement new urban development models and strategies in order to meet the challenges of sustainable development. As cities continue to face challenges in becoming fully circular, the need to establish a framework to measure the circular economy in urban areas grows. Many definitions for circular cities have been developed and addressed in recent years, as have numerous indicators. To make the transition to a circular city, we must integrate the findings and develop a general definition and measurement framework. This article aims at outlining a framework for circular cities indicators based on their key characteristics, as well providing directions for fostering circularity at the city level. To accomplish this goal, we conducted a systematic review and analyzed key papers published in the field of circular economy to determine how circular cities are measured. Choosing the right indicators to use for developing, monitoring, and evaluating circular cities is a difficult task for urban policymakers, managers, and planners. This highlights the significance of standardized frameworks for urban indicators. As a result, the authors propose a framework and highlight some key points about circular cities and smart urban metabolism

Strategy for the management of diabetic macular edema: the European Vitreo-Retinal Society macular edema study

Objective. To compare the efficacy of different therapies in the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME). Design. Nonrandomized, multicenter clinical study. Participants. 86 retina specialists from 29 countries provided clinical information on 2,603 patients with macular edema including 870 patients with DME. Methods. Reported data included the type and number of treatment(s) performed, the pre-and posttreatment visual acuities, and other clinical findings.The results were analyzed by the French INSEE (National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies). Main Outcome Measures. Mean change of visual acuity and mean number of treatments performed. Results.The change in visual acuity over time in response to each treatment was plotted in second order polynomial regression trend lines. Intravitreal triamcinolone monotherapy resulted in some improvement in vision. Treatmentwith threshold or subthreshold grid laser also resulted in minimal vision gain. Anti-VEGF therapy resulted in more significant visual improvement. Treatment with pars plana vitrectomy and internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling alone resulted in an improvement in vision greater than that observed with anti-VEGF injection alone. In our DME study, treatment with vitrectomy and ILM peeling alone resulted in the better visual improvement compared to other therapies

The Effect of Gd Impurities on the Physical Properties of Half-Metallic Ferromagnet Co2MnSiCo_2MnSi

In this paper we report our experimental and theoretical studies on the effect of Gd impurity on the physical properties of the Heusler half-metallic ferromagnet $Co_2MnSi$. The analysis of the band structures of the doped alloy shows that the half-metallic properties are completely conserved if Gd substitutes Mn atoms. This effect is not determined by the spin-orbit interaction, but through the coupling between the R(4f) spin with the Mn(3d) itinerant electron spins. We evaluate the strength of such a coupling by calculating, in an ab initio fashion, the total energy of $Co_{16}GdMn_7Si_8$ compound for a parallel and antiparallel f-d coupling. The obtained magnetic moments of Co or Mn sites are in good agreement with the experimental ones

Capturing Data in Rare Disease Registries to Support Regulatory Decision Making: A Survey Study Among Industry and Other Stakeholders

Introduction In rare diseases, registry-based studies can be used to provide natural history data pre-approval and complement drug efficacy and/or safety knowledge post-approval. Objective The objective of this study was to investigate the opinion of stakeholders about key aspects of rare disease registries that are used to support regulatory decision making and to compare the responses of employees from industry to other stakeholders. Methods A web-based survey was used to gauge the importance of (1) common data elements (including safety outcomes), (2) data quality and (3) governance aspects that are generic across different rare diseases. The survey included 47 questions. The data were collected in the period April-October 2019. Results Seventy-three respondents completed >= 80% of the survey. Most of the respondents were from the industry (n = 42, 57%). For safety data, 31 (42%) respondents were in favour of collecting all adverse events. For data quality, the respondents found a level of 30% reasonable for source data verification. For missing data, a level of 20% was considered acceptable. Compared to responders from industry, the other stakeholders found it less relevant to share data with industry and found it less acceptable if the registry is financed by industry. Conclusions This study showed that the opinion towards data and governance is well aligned across parties, and issues of data and governance on their own should not pose a barrier to collaboration. This finding is supportive of the European Medicines Agency's efforts to encourage stakeholders to work with existing registries when collecting data to support regulatory decision making